Meccano Manuals

1908 - 1981

Welcome to the part of my website giving comprehensive information on all English language Meccano Manuals published by Meccano Ltd in Liverpool and America from 1908 to 1981. Note that because from 1962 all manuals were multi-lingual, it covers all Liverpool manuals from that date.

It is logically split up into the various eras/sections, denoting when there were major changes to the Meccano Outfits and/or Manuals.

The following information is given for the manuals for each era/section:-

Overview of the manuals.

Data on the manuals, including dates, print codes and details of the pagination.

List of all changes to the manuals.

Pictures of the front and rear covers of the manuals.

List of all the models in the manuals together with pictures of every manual model and the page numbers on which they appear.

Approximate quantities of manuals printed from 1918-69 taken from the manual Print Codes.

Whilst researching and documenting all the pre 1981 Meccano manuals in order to produce this website, I borrowed and scanned an enormous number of manuals. Now that I have more room on my website, I have decided to make this reference collection of manual scans available to other Meccano enthusiasts. They are in pdf format and are available from the Manual Details page in the relevant eras as noted below.

There is also a comprehensive search facility on all the traditional Meccano manual models

Confirmation of Existence of Manuals

There are a number of manuals for which I require confirmation of their existence:-
These are identified in red in the manual lists if you could inform me so that I can update the information. If possible it would also be appreciated if you could let me have a scan of the manual.
If you have genuine copies of any manual for which I do not have a download, I would appreciate scans of it.

It is my intention to try and make this website as accurate and comprehensive as possible. Therefore please inform me of any errors or omissions that you discover. In particular information on manuals or changes during an era not included will be gratefully received.

Print Codes / References

From 1918 until 1929 all manuals (and other literature) had a Print Code in the following format:-
'mmyy/nn'.
In 1930 the print code was amended to also include a printer's reference. This lasted until the late 1960`s. These manuals (and other literature) had a Print Code in the following format:-
'pp/mmyy/nn'.Where:-
'pp' - Reference number of the printer's who printed the manual - This is '13' for most manuals except 'Gears'.
'mmyy' - The month and year of the printing.
'nn' - The number of copies printed in thousands.
Note that some 1962-9 manuals omit the printer's reference number and just show the printing date and print quantity like the pre 1930 manuals.

From the late 1960`s all manuals instead had a Print Reference, which was same for all the printings of a particular manual. Note that many 1960`s manuals had both a print Code and a Print Reference. The first manuals known with only a Print Reference are the No.9 outfit leaflets issued in 1962. The last manuals with a Print Code were issued during 1969.

As the Print Reference did not show the printing date, dating these manuals can be very difficult. However in the period 1970-2, Meccano Ltd changed their name several times. In addition, from 1973 the manuals also had a copyright date. Both these things help to determine the year of printing. The biggest problem is in dating those 1960`s manuals which only have a Print Reference - e.g. Play-Set manuals.

I have tried to make the website as printer friendly as possible.

The comprehensive lists of manual print codes that are on this website are included by kind permission of Clive Weston.

Grateful thanks also go to Clive Weston who loaned many manuals for inclusion in this analysis and to Oscar Felgueiras who has provided some of the manual and model scans. Also to Kendrick Bisset who has given invaluable assistance on the American editions. In addition can I thank all the other people who have provided additional information and scans to add missing manuals and to correct errors

Page content last updated - 19th March 2019

Meccano is a registered trademark of Meccano / Spin Master and cannot be used without permission. Many models and component parts incorporate original designs which are protected by copyrights, trademarks or design legislation.